How do I Remove Possums
Angela Byrnes
I am hoping someone out there knows how to get possums out of the roof.
It is getting very smelly and noisy.
Thanks in advance
Bobby
len gardener
you don't say where you are from but there used to be a possum man who
also did bird proofing among other things maybe there is one in your
town? look in the yellow pages under pest control i think.
or you can ring the wild life people from the government they should
make arrangements to trap and relocate them for you.
or you could possum proof your roof, then remove the way they are
getting up into the roof or make a barrier around the way they gain
access to your roof, if you want let me know i have some ideas.
len
snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'
"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gardenlen1/
Peter Angus
Depending on where you live, your local council may supply possum traps.
They only require a refundable deposit here (melb, Sth E subs) and they'll
probably give you a number to ring when/if you catch one so the local ranger
can come and pick it up. Can't hurt to enquire anyway.
Cheers
Peter
Jock
Try a read here:
http://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/services/animals/possums.asp
http://members.tripod.com/wires_msc/page3.html
http://www.nana.asn.au/n2-possum.htm
Some reading there for you - good luck.
Jock
"Angela Byrnes" <byr...@teknet.net.au> wrote in message
news:40514530$0$22531$5a62...@freenews.iinet.net.au...
Angela
Hi
Thankyou for your help I am from Canberra and apparently Urban Services
have authorised private pest controllers to remove possums from roofs so
I will call one of those next week.
Bobby
M. Atta
Not sure where can borrow one from however......
"Angela Byrnes" <byr...@teknet.net.au> wrote in message
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Jock
"M. Atta" <M...@Mosque.now> wrote in message
news:newscache$yfrluh$o0f$1...@talaxian.upnaway.com...
Ken Oaf
> Send a ferret up there...problem solved
> Not sure where can borrow one from however......
Jock
"Ken Oaf" <fi...@iprimus.com.au> wrote in message
news:3d4c50dhdkhu2k67n...@4ax.com...
of teeth I have seen so close up - well, but for the M.I.L. . Definitely
better covered in fur too. By the time the ferret got through the fur, the
Possum would have shredded it's stinking backside.
Jock
Rod Out back
"Jock" <the-nosp...@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:_xq5c.104939$Wa.2...@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
back shed suddenly becomes a hissing multiclawed beast with big bitey teeth
the minute you think you might grab him to have a look. It is only at this
point people realise how many claws they have, and how nasty those claws
are.
Years ago we were in the stock-feed storage room of a neighbour. He used to
keep a number of cats around to keep mouse numbers down. This day we were
checking out the new apprentice (kitten) mouser, who was pretty excited
about his new job. Knowing a mother possum & infant lived on some old doors
up in the rafters of the shed, we hoisted the apprentice mouser up onto the
far end of the doors. Little kitten looks around with much interest, and
suddenly sets sight of the largest, angriest mouse with the largest claws he
has ever seen! Instant puffball from the kitten, and you could see his
brain crunching the numbers, and deciding he might be in for a short life
this time around. Suddenly, all his interest was in finding a quick exit
down right away. Pressing business elsewhere.
We bought him back down to ground level before Mrs Possum ate him for lunch.
It took the kitten about half an hour to calm down, and he kept looking back
up where he had seen the mouse from hell and hissing...We probably gave him
nightmares for the rest of his life.
My few experiences with handling possums make me damn certain I will leave
such folly to someone with far less experience about bitey things....or a
lot better handling equipment.
Cheers,
Rod.......Out Back
Jock
"Rod Out back" <som...@IHATESPAM.BIGPOND.COM> wrote in message
news:mar5c.104972$Wa.8...@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
LOL.
I had the same with a possum here I had excluded from the roof. It was
daylight & it was in the deep gutter hiding for the day. I went up the
ladder with gloves on to remove it from the gutter. As I held it's tail in
1 glove and started to pull it back, it turned over onto it's back and gave
me a little reminder of how many things it had to shred, bite and maim me
with.
I let go and left it to the gutter. 'OK, enjoy the gutter!!!''
Serious respect.
Jock
M. Atta
What about a couple of cans of Mortein Bomb up there which you use to
fumigate small rooms/sheds
The gas might send them packing as smoke from a bush fire would.
"Jock" <the-nosp...@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:aqr5c.105003$Wa.7...@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
Jock
Jock
"M. Atta" <M...@Mosque.now> wrote in message
M. Atta
"Jock" <the-nosp...@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
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Rod Out back
"M. Atta" <M...@Mosque.now> wrote in message
news:newscache$xqcnuh$d5g$1...@talaxian.upnaway.com...
> What about a couple of cans of Mortein Bomb up there which you use to
> fumigate small rooms/sheds
> The gas might send them packing as smoke from a bush fire would.
>
2 reasons I dont like this idea:
1) The idea of using chemicals when they arent necessarry will get you into
problems in the future. They may also kill the possum in a section of the
roof that cannot be accessed without opening the roof. Some buildings have
cavity brick, and animals can actually die down in the wall.
2) You are using a chemical that has a stong residual effect in the space
above where you live. Any cracks or gaps in the ceiling allows that
dust\smoke to filter down into the living areas of the house. Not good if
it isnt necessary.
However, along these lines, it may be worth investigating if there are any
non-dangerous things that you could put in the roof that would incite them
to leave(as suggested in a later post with the moth balls). I dont think I
would use napthalene, but arent there naturally occurring moth repellants?
I thought cedar balls were moth repellant. Maybe they'd have an adverse
effect on the new inhabitants. Maybe something else than smells bad to them,
but doesnt hurt anything else.
Ultimately, the name of the game is to make them realise that life would be
better living elsewhere, rather than leaving a biohazard zone in your roof.
My thoughts alone.
Cheers,
Rod.......Out Back
<Stuff Deleted here>
Jock
an old ladie's smalls drawer.
This is covered by links in post:
news:cCh4c.100031$Wa.5...@news-server.bigpond.net.au
Jock
"M. Atta" <M...@Mosque.now> wrote in message
Jock
"Tricia" <Tri...@home.vic.au> wrote in message
news:w4B5c.105858$Wa.7...@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
| Jock wrote:
| || That's good they reckon but the downside is that your home will
| || smell like an old ladie's smalls drawer.
| || This is covered by links in post:
| || news:cCh4c.100031$Wa.5...@news-server.bigpond.net.au
| || Jock
|
|
| Kilometres!
| Once the smell was gone - about a week, the possums returned
| --
| Tricia
|
|
You have to block the holes so they stay out - put up a nesting box in a
tree.
this is all a little ground hog day for me I am afraid.....
Jock
Rod Out back
> Jock wrote:
> || You have to block the holes so they stay out - put up a nesting box
> || in a tree.
> || this is all a little ground hog day for me I am afraid.....
> || Jock
>
> it's only been 25 years we have been trying - we think we are up to the
> last 2 holes now ;)
>
> --
> Tricia
>
>
Tricia,
There is a stuff used to stop birds roosting in aircraft hangars called 'Hot
Foot', which you smear over the places they roost. It apparently irritates
the birds feet, and causes a burning sensation, but isnt supposed to do any
serious harm to them. I was wondering how feasible it would be to smear
this stuff at the points where the possums enter\exit. Maybe not this exact
stuff, but something similar.
Maybe there is a marketting opportunity to produce a 'Hot Foot' for
Possums...I wonder how unpleasant they would find it to have something like
vaseline mixed with chilli on their feet.
Mind you; I dont want to kill the little devils; just get them to sleep
elsewhere.
I have this same challenge looming; I think I am going to have to discourage
the possums that have started camping in the attic of our laundry building.
I note they are using only one or 2 places to enter, so am thinking of
trying some sort of discouragement at these points.
I havent even begun to count how many holes they might have to get up
there....
Cheers,
Rod.........Out Back
Trish Brown
Mother speaker and play a tape of a growling dog? Or, maybe, the sound of a
wedge-tailed eagle? (I'm serious! Really!) Or white noise? Or maybe Aerosmith in
concert would do the job?
Surely if it were in the roof cavity, loud noise wouldn't bother *you*, but it
might deter the possums? Might be worth a try anyway...?
--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Rod Out back
--
"Trish Brown" <kawb...@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:40576EAA...@ozemail.com.au...
Trish,
I like the idea, but I keep thinking of those trials they keep doing to
reduce the black spots on country roads where kangaroos keep getting hit by
cars. They have tried randomly flashing lights, closely spaced guide-posts,
and I think a noise-maker, and the kangaroos still keep getting hit. I
understand a lot of our more tenacious (and possums would surely rate in
this category) will blank out noise that they dont see as immediate threats.
They get used to it very quickly.
That said, I do think the solution is something like noise, or something
else that makes them uncomfortable, without turning the house into a
disaster zone.
Rod new project; what makes possums uncomfortable, or how to incite an angry
daschaund to spend his life in the attic...
Cheers,
Rod.......Out Back
M. Atta
weeks later a nasty odour could be smelt.....he could not work out where it
came from
Finally found the prob....
the rats had died in the wall cavity.........
I remember Olivier Newton John having a show on the long term effects of
chemicals we use every day.......not real good news...
maybe leave the mortein .......
go for the light in the roof space u can turn on & off & the animal
sounds.......
Making them uncomfortable is the key......
agree
"Rod Out back" <som...@IHATESPAM.BIGPOND.COM> wrote in message
news:c4x5c.105434$Wa....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
Jock
They say loud music in the roof in the day time helps to make it not
attractive. A couple of fluoro lights too. - though there's no need to do
the flashing light tiles ala Bee Gees, John Travolta & SNF..
Jock
Trish Brown
> They say loud music in the roof in the day time helps to make it not
> attractive. A couple of fluoro lights too. - though there's no need to do
> the flashing light tiles ala Bee Gees, John Travolta & SNF..
> Jock
With apologies to the Bee Gees:
Well, you can tell by the way I use your walls,
I'm a possum, man: no time to fall.
Music loud and fluoros warm,
I've been kicked around since I was born.
And now it's all right. It's OK.
And you may try another way.
We can try to understand
the possum's bad effect on man.
Whether you're a possum or whether you're a person,
you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Feel the ceilin' breakin' and everybody shakin',
and we're possums alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, possum's alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive.
Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah. Stayin' alive.
Sigh... so much time... so little to do...
Jock
That's a definite keeper.
LOL
Jock
Lambertia
About the possums. As a wildlife carer i would beg you please not to
use anything toxic ie mortien,rat bait,many other things designed to
"harmlessly" remove wildlife, they ALL kill.
The best methods to remove are:
Mothball in containers with ventilated lids so possum cannot access
it. Do not mix camphor and naphthaleen ( toxic fumes) but 1 or the
other work great. THEN repair holes or remove branches to access roof
within 24hours 48 at the most or they will be back.
Relocation is not the answer always either because as an extreemly
teritorial animal you empty out a territory there will ALWAYS be
someone else to move in, they may be meaner and badder. Better the
devil you know i reckon!
Replace some of their habitat, we removed it where else are they going
to live? Hang a possum box, if you want a design there is a good one
on the NSW national parks site. http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au
Lights in the ceiling work short term.
But above all make it more pleasant for them outside, they only adapt
because they have to.
They are coming into the breeding season again they are going to be
looking for places to nest, i removed 3 from in a chimney yesterday.
Don't use rat poisons the joeys ingest this also and they die
painfully from internal bleeding over days along side mum, and this is
an extremely awful thing to have to experience.
Enjoy our wildlife, it is an extremely unique thing to experience up
close. How many other countries do you think you could have such a
diverse and unusual combination of fauna within our cities. Don't take
it for granted, It may not always be there!
more is gooder
1 cup human urine
1 cup household ammonia
4.5 litres of water
Spray this mix all around where the possums are being a problem.
OTHER POSSUM CONTROL SUGGESTION:
Use 'Quassia chips' should be available from agricultural stores that supply
the fruit growers.
Mix up a thick past of the hottest chillies you can find daub this along
branches/fences wher the possums walk, i have been told this causes them
only agitation but enough that they don't want to go that way again.
Got this off "len gardener web site " very good site for natural remadies
len gardener
ideas on control of wildlife:
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Having+troubles
Fitz-Gerald Mob
rose leaves?
Mark
It works realy well
"len gardener" <gard...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Raels
news:407B49E2...@tpg.com.au...
I went to the local supermarket to see if they stocked some sort of spray
for getting rid of cats/dogs.
I came across one called "Poss Off"........... just for possums. :-)
Raelene
xxx